Locked On Rockets - Daily Podcast On The Houston Rockets

It wasn't aesthetically pleasing, but James Harden and Clint Capela had just enough to to lead the top-seeded Rockets to a victory in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series with No. 8 Minnesota in the first round of the NBA's postseason.

Sunday's postgame recap explores all the key storylines, led by dominance from Capela (24/12, 3 blocks, 34 minutes) vs. Karl-Anthony Towns, continued MVP excellence from Harden (44 points, 15-of-26 FG, 8 assists), and the need for better performances from Chris Paul and Houston's supporting cast of shooters (3-of-25 from deep, excluding Harden) in the days and weeks ahead. Tune in:

#Rockets #NBA #Wolves #NBAPlayoffs

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With Minnesota clinching the Western Conference's No. 8 seed, Locked on Timberwolves host Colton Molesky joins us for a Round 1 preview, including initial thoughts on how the Wolves (47-35) match up with the Rockets (65-16).

Houston went 4-0 against Minnesota this year, with all matchups occurring in the final three months of the season. Three of the Rockets' victories were by 18 points. Tune in for more thoughts!

#Rockets #NBA #Timberwolves

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Chris Paul (22 points, 9-of-14 FG) led the way in a 105-99 win for the Rockets (65-16) over the Lakers Tuesday night, but it came at a price with Luc Mbah a Moute again dislocating his right shoulder. 

Wednesday's show features immediate reaction to the Mbah a Moute injury news and a preview of the NBA's finale night games and the playoff scenario implications for Houston in Round 1 and Round 2.

#Rockets #NBA #Lakers

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MVP frontrunner James Harden and reigning NBA Coach of the Year Mike D'Antoni each have their share of skeptics on playoff performance, but is it warranted?

In our Monday show, Ben explains why many of the "choking" narratives are overblown and why context and nuance is important in analyzing the two men and their postseason histories.

The Rockets (64-16) are locked into the league's best record and home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs, and in the history of Harden's five prior seasons in Houston, they've yet to lose a playoff series to a team with a worse regular-season record. Should that trend continue, the Rockets would win the NBA title this season, since there are no teams with tied or better records.

Will it continue? We'll have to wait and see, but for now, tune into hear how many of the national narratives are misguided and why there's more reason to believe in both men than you might think.

#Rockets #NBA

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James Harden led the way with 26 points and 9 assists, but the Rockets (64-16) still fell in Saturday's home finale to a desperate Oklahoma City Thunder (46-34) side led by 24 points from Paul George and Russell Westbrook. The loss snapped Houston's home-court winning streak at 20 games.

Our postgame recap explores all the key takeaways, including the highlights (Harden, Paul, Tucker, Capela) and lowlights (Ariza, Nene) of those who played, the roles of absences from Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, and who Houston's likely first-round opponent is with only four days left in the season.

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Chris Paul (27 points, 11-of-19 FG) lifted Houston to a 22-point halftime lead over Portland and ultimately saved them with a tie-breaking shot with just 0.8 seconds left as the Rockets (64-15) escaped with a 96-94 home win over the Blazers (48-31).

James Harden (24/7/6) was again hot from the perimeter (3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc), but his eight turnovers and two missed free throws late played a role in nearly allowing Portland to overcome the deficit. A much-improved performance from Clint Capela (11/10, +12 in 32 minutes) on the interior against Jusuf Nurkic also played a key role in Houston's early dominance.

Ryan Anderson remained out due to a sprained ankle suffered in Tuesday's win over Washington, while Eric Gordon sat out as a precaution with a minor twinge to his foot. As expected, Portland star Damian Lillard was also out with a sprained ankle.

Thursday's show explores those angles and more, including the lack of intensity late as the Rockets were outscored 50-30 in the second half after building a 66-44 lead at intermission.

In the final segment of the show, Locked on Celtics host John Karalis provides insight from Boston on Thursday's news of a season-ending knee injury to Kyrie Irving, while our Ben DuBose explains its potential relevance to the Rockets — particularly when it comes to Houston's planned offseason pursuit of LeBron James. 

#Rockets #NBA #Blazers

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James Harden returned to MVP form with 38 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists on 12-of-18 shooting as the Rockets (63-15) bounced back from a rare loss on Sunday with a 120-104 beatdown of the Washington Wizards (42-36) on Tuesday night at Toyota Center.

Chris Paul returned to the lineup after a two-game absence with 8 points and 6 assists, while Clint Capela was dynamic inside with 21 points (9-of-10 FG) and 10 rebounds in just 26 minutes. Meanwhile, Gerald Green may have secured a playoff role with 16 points (5-of-9 FG) in just 23 minutes off the bench.

Tuesday's postgame recap explores those themes and more, including the importance of Harden's improved shooting after a cold stretch and what an ankle injury to Ryan Anderson could mean for the team's depth chart behind Capela at center.

#Rockets #NBA #Wizards

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The Rockets (62-15) had their 11-game winning streak snapped in a largely inconsequential road matinee on Sunday vs. the San Antonio Spurs (45-32). James Harden (25/8) led the team in scoring, while Eric Gordon made a successful return to the lineup with 18 points in 29 minutes on 7-of-15 shooting.

Houston knew going into the game that it had already clinched the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, courtesy of Toronto's loss in Boston on Saturday night. As a result, considering the lack of standings relevance, Chris Paul sat out for a second consecutive game with a sore left leg.

Our postgame show explores the key takeaways; including the importance of Paul against a Gregg Popovich-led defense; ongoing struggles for Harden from three-point range (1-of-6 on Sunday); and the significance of Gerald Green (11/8 in 29 minutes) again playing more minutes than Joe Johnson (0 points in 16 minutes), even after Johnson had a positive showing on Friday.

#Rockets #NBA #Spurs

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Despite a combined 2-of-15 start, starting guards James Harden (28/10/8) and Gerald Green (15 points) each had dagger three-pointers in the final 20 seconds on Friday night, rallying the Rockets to a 104-103 home win over the Phoenix Suns.

With the win, the Rockets (62-14) extended their current winning streak to 11 games. They've won 28 of their past 29 and 32 of their past 34, and their "magic number" to clinch home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs over Toronto is down to only one.

P.J. Tucker (6-of-9 FG) had 18 points on a career-high five made three-pointers, while Joe Johnson (5-of-10 FG) had 16 points in just 21 minutes — including 14 in a critical stretch in the final four minutes of the third quarter, when Houston cut the lead from 18 to 11.

Our postgame recap explores how persistence paid off for Green, Harden, and other Rockets, who kept shooting and playing hard despite a very sluggish start in the first half and a lack of playmakers with Chris Paul and Eric Gordon each out as part of Houston's planned maintenance program heading into the postseason.

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Longtime CEO Tad Brown joins our Ben DuBose for an exclusive interview, led by his thoughts on the season thus far and today’s news that the Rockets (61-14) have clinched the West’s No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history after Thursday night’s loss by Golden State (54-21).

Other topics include the leadership styles of Chris Paul and James Harden; working for new owner Tilman Fertitta after previously working for Les Alexander; keeping the current team together after the season; making Toyota Center a great fan environment; and the importance of China to the team’s recruitment efforts.

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